Posted by haneefa mahdi on 2/18/06 10:09pm
Msg #98232

newbie

I am a newbie in il and just wanted a head up of do's and don'ts. I am unclear as to what fees I should charge for a notary signing. It is also unclear as to where and how do I go about getting signings. If anyone is interested in taking me under their wings it would be greatly appreciated.

Reply by Jenny_CA on 2/18/06 10:49pm
Msg #98246

Re:Start w/ the Search button and type in #33325, good info n/m

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 2/18/06 10:56pm
Msg #98247

Research, research, research

Start by reading this board. If you'd only read the first two pages of this forum, a great many of your questions would have been answered. First start by reading message #33325 (orange search button at bottom of page and follow directions). Then when you've read that thread completely (recommend printing it out for reference), start reading this whole board from last message to first! It is the very best training you can get. You will not only learn from the best of the best, but maybe more importantly you will learn what NOT TO DO. In this day of every increasing supply of notaries who are going into this to make the "easy" money that has been touted by the NNA and others and then you combine it with the deminishing demand for loans, you will see why not very many are willing to take you under their wings. We are not being "mean", haven't forgotten "what it's like to be new", remember what our mother's said about "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", but we have gone into survival mode. Show some inititive to learn for yourself and not ask for everything to be given to you and you will find that the members of this board can and will be very helpful. Most of us want to see our profession prosper, but we want to keep it a profession for professionals and not as an easy way for a hobbyist to make some pin money and if it doesn't work, walk away. For most of us or at least many of us, this is our livelihood and naturally we are very protective.

Reply by MichiganAl on 2/19/06 3:37am
Msg #98256

Tell me something...

You don't know what your fees should be, you don't know where or how to start. So may I ask you, what exactly do you know? I'm not trying to be rude, I'd like to know what kind of preparation, thought or effort you've put into this decision to be a signing agent. What have you done up to this point? Have you done a business plan or market analysis of your area? What kind of industry research did you do? Have you read any of the posts over the last few weeks (I already know the answer to this one)? Have you hit the little tab on the top that says "Signing Central" and looked at the list of about 200 signing companies you could contact (I already know the answer to this one as well)? As Dorothy said, show some initiative. Have you picked up a Yellow Pages? Tried a search engine for terms like "signing service", "title companies", "mortgage companies", etc? "Hi I'm new I don't know where to start" makes our blood boil. We see this kind of laziness every single day, day after day after day after day... We've worked our freaking a#$%^# off to get where we are, we're not about to hand over the keys to the Ferrari without a little effort on your part.

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 2/19/06 8:17am
Msg #98261

Al, please write

Al, please write and let me know what area of MI you are in. dmatsel at earthlink dot net. Thanks.

Reply by BrendaTx on 2/19/06 9:24am
Msg #98266

Re: Al please send one to me also...tia.

Al, I could definitely use that also. Please send if it is not too much trouble. TIA Brenda

Reply by BrendaTx on 2/19/06 9:31am
Msg #98267

Re: newbie- how to get help from exp. notaries....

http://brendatx.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-ask-for-help-getting-started.html

The above is a long, but frank article on how to get help from an experienced notary.

If this offends anyone, please tell N/HR to remove this. I will get a definite ruling from H/NR on sharing an article like this since it seems to disturb people.

Actually, I wasted an hour tweaking it for NR, then I hit post and THE DARN THING GOT SUCKED UP BY THE


Login Again Please



SORRY NO GOOD, BLACK TOOTHED, SCREAMING maggothead login page.

Reply by Charles_Ca on 2/19/06 1:44pm
Msg #98290

Uh, Brenda, how do you really feel about that login page? n/m

Reply by BrendaTx on 2/20/06 9:50am
Msg #98368

Re: Uh, Brenda, how do you really feel about that login page?

I am not proud of the crack about the login. I must stop listening to CourtTV in the background because I guess that is the source of my the "maggothead" remark.

Reply by PL on 2/19/06 11:03am
Msg #98275

Pardon, while I swim upstream

I too find it quite disturbing when someone wants something for nothing, but do you need a business plan? Probably not, if you have just a wee bit of business savvy, you should be able to navigate this business fairly well. Should you expect one of your local competitors to help you? Probably not, this is a business of who can offer the best service for the least cost and to share one's business "secrets" is probably not going to happen. Do you have to be a retired realtor/loan officer/bank president to do this job? No, what it does take is an indiviual who is detail oriented and who is able to deliever on their promises.
I know this, because I like you decided to go for it and it has worked out wonderfully for me. It may have been just blind luck that got me this far, but I prefer to think that it was an indiviual who is detail oriented and who is able to deliever on his promises who got me this far. So blast forward do your best and hope to whatever religious honcho you believe in that it works out for you. Good luck.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/20/06 11:26pm
Msg #98497

Re: Pardon, while I swim upstream

There appear to be parts of the country that haven't yet been invaded by the likes of the NNA and their ilk and yours may be one of them. For those who happen to be in one of the regions inundated by SAs, I don't believe it is quite enough anymore for a new person to be "detail oriented and... able to deliever on their promises" although that certainly is a good place to start!

A new SA wannabe should also have a good idea of what start-up costs will be (this is true for all) and how long it will take them to generate enough income to live off of, especially if they plan to do this as a career. They should have an idea of what it will take for business to start rolling in, how much time will need to be invested before they get even their first assignment and then how long will it take to see the paychecks beginning to arrive. And they should have enough operating capital to achieve their goals. I'm not even going to get into competency issues...

This is only scratching the surface. We have seen so many people come here asking for help after jumping in with both feet with no clue of what it really takes. Even a rudimentary business plan could help alleviate some of these issues. Much of this has already been covered in Msg#33325, so I'm not going to even try to elaborate any further. I'm glad to hear that things have worked out wonderfully for you, but I doubt all others will be as fortunate.